POLITICS; Tiny State, Big Ambitions

By FRAN SILVERMAN

Published: February 25, 2007

CORRECTION APPENDED

HAS Connecticut become an incubator for presidential ambitions?

None of the first 42 presidents were born in the state, and it took more than 200 years for a local politician to appear on a major party's presidential ticket. But with Senator Christopher J. Dodd in the race for 2008, a Connecticut politician will be running for president for the fourth election cycle in a row.

Ralph Nader, born in Winsted, started things off in 1996, running as the Green Party candidate. He was the party's nominee again in 2000 and ran in 2004 as an independent. In those last two campaigns, he ran against Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, who was Al Gore's vice presidential running mate in 2000 and ran for president on his own in 2004.

Now Senator Dodd is hoping to grab the spotlight from his Democratic colleague across the border, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Coincidence? Or is there something in this state of affluence and steady habits that has native politicians suddenly -- in terms of history -- aching for the White House?

There was a time in American politics when candidates from small states had to put presidential ambitions aside. Their states simply didn't have the population to attract support for a national nomination, political experts say. With about 3.5 million people and only seven electoral votes, Connecticut fit into that category.

But the landscape has changed. Cable television, the Internet and blogs have allowed politicians from small states to grab more of the national spotlight, said John McGlennon, a professor of government at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

It's also not uncommon for politicians to follow in the campaign footsteps of others from their state. In Arkansas, Bill Clinton went from the governor's mansion to the White House, and now former Gov. Mike Huckabee is running for the Republican nomination. In Tennessee, Lamar Alexander tried to follow Mr. Gore by making the jump from the Senate to his party's presidential nomination.

Mr. McGlennon said an ''if he can run, I can run'' mentality was fueling campaigns.

But it's more than that, some state politicos say. There is indeed something about Connecticut that inspires ambition.

''We have a strong independent streak going back to the early days of our country,'' says Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, a Democrat. ''And we are a state of firsts.''

Ella T. Grasso was the first woman in the United States to be elected governor in her own right, not replacing her husband, and Abraham A. Ribicoff was the first Jewish governor in New England. Senator Lieberman was the first Jew on a major party's presidential ticket, losing in 2000 to the first Connecticut native to be elected president: George W. Bush, born in New Haven on July 6, 1946.

And some claim that Samuel Huntington, Connecticut's governor from 1786 to 1796, should be considered the nation's first president because he was president of the Continental Congress when the Articles of Confederation went into effect in 1781.

''Connecticut has been in the forefront of interesting innovations and landmark legislation, such as campaign finance reform and the family leave act,'' says Jara N. Burnett, president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut. ''We have some very forward-thinking people.''

That may be because Connecticut is a wealthy and highly educated state, with more than 25 private and public colleges, including Yale, from which five presidents earned degrees, said Walter W. Woodward, the state's official historian.

''You got a lot of money, and well-connected people here,'' says Darryl L. McMiller, associate professor of political science at the University of Hartford. ''If you look at ZIP codes as to who makes contributions, the Gold Coast is way up there.''

That state residents have re-elected Senators Dodd and Lieberman has also helped spur their presidential ambitions, Mr. McMiller says. Their seniority -- Dodd has been in the Senate since 1981 and Lieberman since 1988 -- have put them at an advantage on powerful committees. When the Democrats took control of Congress last month, Senator Dodd became chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

But while the state has been producing presidential candidates, success has been more elusive.

Senator Dodd may have $5 million in his campaign chest, second among Democrats to Senator Clinton, but he has been running far behind in the polls. A statewide survey released by Quinnipiac University last week had him with 8 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary, with Senator Clinton leading at 33 percent.

Senator Lieberman, after winning the popular vote, but not the electoral count, with Mr. Gore in 2000, fizzled in his presidential bid in 2004, then lost the Democratic primary last year and had to run as an independent to hold onto his seat. Mr. Nader, if he runs again, is considered more of a spoiler than a serious contender.

Such history has not dampened spirits in the Dodd campaign, however. ''The most critical factor isn't where you're from,'' said Beneva Schulte, a campaign spokeswoman. ''It's whether you can truly listen to and connect with voters.''

In what may be construed by some as sour grapes, the state Republican Party chairman, Chris Healy, says Senator Dodd's candidacy, and Senator Lieberman's before it, does little for the state over all.

''We have a spirited political dynamic, but the whole issue of what it says about Connecticut is more a matter of personalities than what is in the water here,'' he said. ''It's a fool's errand. The people who suffer are the people of Connecticut who need a full-time senator.''

But Ellen Camhi, of Stamford, a national Democratic Committee member, says Connecticut is receiving a lot of attention in national political circles because of its presidential contenders.

''Everywhere we go, people want to now what's happening,'' she says.

In years past, state delegates at the national convention, usually a group of just five, were always seated in the back, near the Guam delegation.

''When Lieberman was on the ticket, it was the first time we ever sat in front at the national convention,'' Ms. Camhi said. ''I'm planning on it again.''

Photos: NOW AND THEN -- Senator Christopher J. Dodd, left, is the latest politician from Connecticut to run for president. Below, Ralph Nader, born in Winsted, ran in 1996 and 2000; and George W. Bush, born in New Haven and elected in 2000, was re-elected in 2004. Some consider Samuel Huntington, an early governor, the nation's first president; and the state showed its independent streak by making Ella T. Grasso the nation's first elected female governor. (Photo by Jodi Hilton for The New York Times); (Photographs by Associated Press and Getty Images [President Bush])

Correction: March 4, 2007, Sunday
An article last Sunday about Connecticut politicians who have run for president referred incorrectly to the presidential campaigns of Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Mr. Alexander ran for president in 1996 and 2000 before being elected to the United States Senate in 2002; he did not follow in Al Gore's footsteps by serving as a senator from Tennessee before seeking the White House.